An epic storm rolled in from the southwest just as we summited, one of the best lightening shows I've seen. We set up camp just as the hail came, and when the storm was over the ground was covered in quarter-sized hail.

I remembered beinig really psyched to be on top of this peak. I'm not sure what route I took to get there, but I was on a 5 day trek called "Mountain Men" that included kids from different troops around the country. This was my first real introduction to backpacking (a little more out there than what we did back in Ohio) and I loved it. The great view from the top inspired me and the rest, as they say, is history.

I did this with my Scout troop: Troop 444 of Sierra Vista, AZ. Phillips is probably the first real mountain I've climbed. We had typical Philmont weather: rainy and cloudy, but the scenery we could see was very nice.

"After the first glass, you see things as you wish they were. After the second, you see things as they are not. Finally, you see things as they really are, which is the most horrible thing in the world."
--Oscar Wilde on Absinthe